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29 Jan 2012 10:58

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U.S.: Occupy Oakland protests: Arrests, tear gas, tough statements from officials

  • Whenever journalists are arrested/detained for reporting the news, everyone’s freedom is at risk.
  • KGO Radio reporter Kristin Hanes • Discussing her arrest late Saturday as the Occupy Oakland protests flared up. She and Gavin Aronson of Mother Jones were among the over 200 people placed into custody Saturday night, as the Oakland protests reached a new breaking point — including the burning of an American flag. Both mayor Jean Quan and the police were quick to pin negative attention on the protesters: “The Bay Area Occupy Movement has got to stop using Oakland as their playground,” Quan said in a statement. However, it’s important to keep in mind the nature of the police actions — including violence towards protesters and the use of tear gas grenades. An OpenSalon writer has a pretty informative first-person piece worth reading, which describes both the nature of the protesters (not as bad as reported) and why things flared up Saturday. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink


27 Jan 2012 19:44

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Biz: CBS Sports fires blogger who flubbed Joe Paterno death report

  • Bad sourcing plus poor timing: Adam Jacobi took to Twitter earlier this afternoon to reveal that CBS Sports — which ran with a erroneous story that Joe Paterno had died hours before he actually did, based on a single tweet from a student Web site, originally linked to and otherwise unsourced (then retracted it, naming the source and initially refusing to take full credit for the error) — fired him over the incident. “In the end, CBS had to let me go for the Paterno story going out the way it did,” Jacobi wrote. “and I understand completely. Thanks, everyone, for reading.” The Washington Post’s Erik Wemple calls the move classy on Jacobi’s part, and an important line in the sand for CBS: “Not only does CBSSports.com put on notice its employees that multiple sourcing matters,” Wemple writes,“it puts on notice the entire industry.” While we don’t necessarily think Jacobi should’ve been fired, CBS made a good move, as it initially looked like they would let the sword fall onto Onward State. It would’ve been better if they took credit right away. (photo via Flickr user audreyjm529) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink


26 Jan 2012 10:52

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Culture: Obviously: People trying to sell free Joe Paterno memorial tickets on eBay

  • 16,000 number of free tickets given out for Joe Paterno's memorial, which happens this afternoon
  • $98,000 the amount some of the tickets have gone for on eBay — before eBay took the sales down source
  • » Greed over grieving: With Paterno so highly regarded in the Penn State community, it only makes sense that there’s a lot of demand for these tickets. “It took only minutes more for pairs of the tickets to start showing up on eBay,” the Centre Daily Times pointed out. But, thing is, eBay has a rule where you can’t sell tickets you got for free for money. So many of the ticket sales got taken down. Suggestion to all: Don’t sell tickets for a memorial. A guy died. It’s not the Super Bowl. (Thanks Time’s Moneyland for the tip)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink


15 Jan 2012 10:05

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Tech: SOPA fight leaning towards opponents, as Rupert Murdoch’s feed suggests

  • So Obama has thrown in his lot with Silicon Valley paymasters who threaten all software creators with piracy, plain thievery.
  • Rupert Murdoch • Posting on Twitter yesterday afternoon about the Obama administration’s stance on SOPA, which discouraged the bill in its current form. CNET’s Greg Sandoval says that Murdoch’s reaction is a strong sign that the entertainment industry is starting to lose the battle, with a key provision of PIPA and SOPA — which involved the DNS system — getting removed from both acts. Murdoch, meanwhile, was quick to rip Google for what he perceived as their strong influence on the White House statement: “Piracy leader is Google who streams movies free, sells advts around them. No wonder pouring millions into lobbying,” he said on Twitter. On the plus side, at least Rupe isn’t making gambling jokes that could be misinterpreted. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink


12 Jan 2012 10:12

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World: Reaction to shocking Marine corpse desecration video extremely strong

  • The actions portrayed are not consistent with our core values and are not indicative of the character of the Marines in our Corps. This matter will be fully investigated.
  • A statement from the Marine Corps Headquarters • Angrily criticizing a video, posted on YouTube, that appears to show Marines urinating on the bodies of dead Taliban fighters. However the video, which has floated around YouTube for the past day, has not been verified. The Pentagon, however, said there is no indication that the video isn’t authentic. The video has drawn a number of angry responses from officials as varied as Sen. John McCain, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the Council on Islamic-American Relations. In Karzai’s case, he called the video “completely inhumane.” If the video is accurate, he’ll find us agreeing with him. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink


11 Jan 2012 10:09

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Politics: Michelle Obama tired of being portrayed as “angry black woman”

  • I guess it’s more interesting to imagine this conflicted situation here and a strong woman and — you know? But that’s been an image that people have tried to paint of me since the day Barack announced, that I’m some angry black woman.
  • Michelle Obama • Defending herself from claims that she fostered tension with the president’s top deputies — Rahm Emanuel and Robert Gibbs — leading to the claims getting into New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor’s book “The Obamas.” We can certainly agree with the basic thrust of what she’s saying — even if Kantor’s book is accurate, just look at how much crap she gets over the stupidest things from the right. That is clearly the result of others trying to typecast her in a certain image. Let’s cut the image politics here. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink


27 Dec 2011 20:35

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Tech: Would Obama veto SOPA? An online debate builds among techies

  • claim AllThingsD’s Arik Hesseldahl claimed in an article Monday that Obama would be likely to veto the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act because the president “likes the internet” and that a decision in favor of SOPA would strongly go against the president’s longstanding net neutrality policy.
  • rebuttal However, TechDirt blogger Mike Masnick, who knows a thing or two about online copyright issues, says that Obama would likely sign it due to his need for election-year money from Hollywood — unless the bill becomes toxic to the touch, which Masnick says hasn’t happened yet. So, who’s right?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink


 

22 Dec 2011 23:20

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Tech: GoDaddy faces all-out boycott over stated SOPA support

  • Why they support SOPA GoDaddy has been one of the more vocal supporters of SOPA, as a statement they submitted to the House of Representatives makes clear: “As much as some would like to paint a bleak picture, this debate is not about Hollywood vs. Silicon Valley. This debate is about preserving, protecting, and creating American jobs and protecting American consumers from the dangers that they face on-line.”
  • Prone to controversy GoDaddy doesn’t exactly have the most pristine reputation among tech companies (what with its scantily-clad commercials and elephant-hunting CEO), but it hasn’t hurt their service in the past. Why? Quick — name another company that sells domains off the top of your head. Most people probably can’t. That’s what might hurt this boycott amongst mainstream users.
  • An uphill battle? GoDaddy users face a very similar situation to PayPal or Craigslist or Internet Explorer— no matter how controversial, user-unfriendly, or outdated the service may get, the market leader is seated pretty firmly due to years of market recognition and popularity, and it’ll take a lot to shake them. GoDaddy’s offered annoyed users a good reason to move elsewhere, however. But how many will there be? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink


22 Dec 2011 11:18

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Politics: Three ways Web sites and users have been protesting SOPA

  • People upset with the Stop Online Piracy Act have a small reason to cheer this morning. The anti-piracy bill, which many Internet users feel could have a chilling effect on the Web, got tabled until early next year, giving a brief respite and an opportunity for alternative bills (such as Rep. Darrell Issa’s OPEN act) to gain footing. Being a creative bunch, many users have taken to design tricks, boycotts, even music to protest what they feel is a dangerous bill. Here are just a few examples of SOPA protests online:
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink


11 Dec 2011 11:03

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Biz: Amazon’s controversial price-check app draws Senator’s ire

  • Amazon’s promotion — paying consumers to visit small businesses and leave empty-handed — is an attack on Main Street businesses that employ workers in our communities. Small businesses are fighting everyday to compete with giant retailers, such as Amazon, and incentivizing consumers to spy on local shops is a bridge too far.
  • Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) • Openly criticizing Amazon’s new price-check app, which allows users to go in stores, scan the barcodes and see if Amazon has lower prices than said shops do — for a discounted price at Amazon. With the location feature turned on, consumers effectively can let Amazon know what their brick-and-mortar competitors are selling something for. What do you all think? Clever or sketchy? Does it empower the consumer or hurt small businesses? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink


 
 
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